Intermediate Inspirational Storytelling

A three-session introductory course, focusing on deepening the students’ craft of inspirational storytelling. It is designed for those who already have experience in spiritual storytelling (or who have completed the introductory course).

The program is designed to give participants the opportunity to explore the meanings found in the similarities and differences found in spiritual stories from different traditions, and how to transform those meanings into effective storytelling.

Curriculum:

Class One: Similarities (and distinctions)

Introductions, first story

Exploration:

Illuminating the common themes and components of spiritual stories

Digestion:

Acknowledging the differences in similar stories

Discovering which version resonates for us as individual storytellers

Stripping away the extraneous to discover the heart of the story

Creation:

Crafting a version of the story we would like to tell

Practice:

Telling the first story

Class Two: Distinctions (and similarities)

Exploration:

Illuminating the differences between similar stories

Digestion

Wrestling with language to highlight these distinctions

Finding the unfamiliar; learning how to embrace it

Resetting the varieties on a similar landscape

Creation

Crafting a new version of the story we told

Practice:

Telling the second story

Class Three: Deepening (and rising)

Exploration

Moving from “storytelling arc” to “storytelling landscape”

Wandering into the “wild”

Brainstorming new stories from familiar tropes

Creation

Crafting a brand new story

Practice:

Telling the new story

Closing story, future options

Students should bring a story to be told – not read – of 7-10 minutes. Stories will ideally be drawn from your spiritual / cultural tradition and be meaningful to you.

All presentations will be “workshopped” by the group, to dual purpose: to illuminate the deeper processes at play, and to provide constructive guidance to the teller.

Participants will leave the course with one or two new foundational stories in their repertoire, which will also be useful for discovering and crafting new stories.